Is Obamacare really a benefit for the citizens?

By Viridiana Valdez

Published July 12, 2013

BOULDER- Americans start to doubt Obamacare health plans initiated by President Barack Obama in 2010.

Obamacare is the name given to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Acts.The purpose of these two acts is to allow more Americans to have health insurance and to reduce health care costs. The president’s goal with Obamacare is for everyone living in the United States to have health insurance, with no exceptions. Also, as The Atlantic states, insurance companies will not be able to refuse coverage to people anymore once it goes into effect.

 The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Acts passed in 2010 and go into effect in January of next year. The fact that the law goes into effect in five months has caused people to worry again. The citizens are asking themselves if this plan will really be beneficial to them, and only a small amount agree with it.

 Since there are many people doubting Obamacare, two completely different people were interviewed about the subject. Both interviewees were asked the same questions in order to distinguish two different opinions. The first person interviewed was a citizen of the United States, Claudia Valdez, 36, and the second was a student from the University of Northern Colorado, Andrea Macias, 20.

 The first question they were both asked was how Obamacare would affect them and their answers were both positive and similar. Mrs. Valdez said this law would help her family greatly. She currently does not have insurance coverage for any members of her family, which include her husband and three children. Valdez said, “It’s hard because my husband is not always stable in his job and I try so that none of my kids get sick because it would be very expensive to pay for medical attention without insurance.”  Macias also said it would be of great help because the insurance her job provides for her is expensive, and she is hoping those rates decrease when Obamacare comes in effect.

Another significant question that was asked to the two interviewees was: how will Obamacare affect the United States as a whole? Their answers were similar, yet very different. Valdez stated her opinion in which she said it would be “a tremendous help” to many people. She continued saying Obamacare is a positive thing for the United States because nobody will be left without health care, but at the same time people would not have to spend ridiculous amounts of money for it. Valdez said, “My favorite part of this law is how we will be able to choose plans and rates that will be customized to our incomes, meaning they will be affordable.” With this statement she was referring to exchanges.

 In order for the law to go into effect in January, there will be an online system that will organize and provide affordable insurance for families of all incomes. That process is called exchanges and will allow families to match up with insurance companies that will provide for their medical and dental insurance. These exchanges are expected to start functioning in October of this year.

The way the exchanges are going to work is families will enter their information on the websites provided by the government, and that will match them up with various plans and or companies that are affordable according the information given. If the families are unable to afford the plans they were given to choose from they can receive money from the government to help pay the insurance, but families that cannot afford anything even after the help can apply for Medicaid.

Macias thought Obamacare benefited the United States, but at the same time that it did not. She thought that the government helping out American citizens pay their insurance was a positive thing, but she thought it was a negative thing how “undocumented people do not get the right to apply for Medicaid, so it is not so beneficial to those people.” Macias did say Obamacare was a positive thing for the most part.

As mentioned above, not everyone is eligible for the help offered by the government such as Medicaid or buying insurance through the exchange process, as The Atlantic states. Undocumented families are the ones that will not have that opportunity to receive financial help, but since they are living in the United States they are still required to have health care. That means undocumented families will have to pay more expensive rates with a private insurance company or pay for the one their employers offer.

With Obamacare just around the corner, full time employers are worried about their health benefit costs increasing, but that is actually a myth according to Jeffrey Young, Huffington Post. Young mentions that the costs of full time employers will decrease as a result of the law’s requirement that “companies with at least 50 employees provide affordable health benefits.” This means that employers will still be allowed to offer insurance to their employees and employees will not have to go through exchanges.

Obamacare is a health care plan that will help many people’s budgets and financial problems while giving them the care and coverage they should have. Many people agree and many people disagree with it, but the benefits of it will really make a positive impact on the people of the United States, and just as economist Dean Baker said, “The only real problem is political.”

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/05/29/is-obamacare-too-complicated-to-succeed/obamacare-is-complicated-but-far-better-than-nothing

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/04/what-is-obamacare/274509/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/16/obamacare-employers_n_3286508.html

 

Social Media May Be Ruining the Next Generation

Courtesey of Kathleen Deegalham

By: Alondra Palomino

Published: July 12,2013

Boulder- Social media use is at an all time high. With people wanting to stay in touch with family and friends, social media has shown to influence the next generation but is it in a positive or negative way? Regardless, our world must learn to adapt.

Marketing Charts reports that the average 18-24 year old spends about 3.2 hours on social media networks, while on the other hand 50-64 year olds  are spending 2 hours on social media. According to Globe and Mail,our generation is constantly being exposed to social media as a way to interact with people we would never think we would have the opportunity to, but at the same time weakens our face to face communication.

Caylin La, a 17 year old social media addict , disagrees on social media being the cause of people being less interactive, she claims that social media networks have made her more social, ” I have interacted more with people since social media, our generation is very social and you can relate based on common interests.” When asked why she enjoyed social media she said, ” It consumes your time when you’re bored and keeps you informed on people’s lives and the world, peoples lives are interesting.”

Ace Ventura, 17, is a quiet and introverted girl who is a part of social media. When asked  if social media will take over the future generation she responded, ” It is inevitable you see changes from My Space, Facebook, Twitter, bottom line is  you enjoy seeing whats happening.” Social Media is evolving into to more innovative ideas.

The idea of social media taking up time is debatable. Radiant Tribes an internet marketing entrepreneurs website states that social media should not take up so much time, keeping in mind that these people are trying to get their products out to sell, they bring up a strong argument, if something is valuable to a person they should set up a time to log on for a certain amount of time. On the other hand, Haleigh Amant, a political science major says that social media can be a huge distraction of time while trying to study and do homework and makes us less informed about the important things happening in our world.

According to  the Addicted Mind, social media has given us an excuse for bad morals and ethics because a person feels a sense of comfort knowing that the person they are offending will not look them in the eyes. It also argues saying that social media does not let a person know more a bout themselves since they are so wrapped up in it.

Facebook

One of the leading social networks at this moment is Facebook at 750,000,000 visitors per month, eBiz reports.  Founded in February 4, 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg Facebook’s mission is  “to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” They believe that by keeping the world more connected the world will become more peaceful.

Twitter

The second most popular social media site is Twitter at 250,000,000 visitors per month, founded in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey. Twitter claims that it ” is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest stories, ideas, opinions and news about what you find interesting.” Twitter is almost like a blogging site for people without experience.

Social media has its flaws but it was created to be able to communicate, with time, social media has become much more than communication. It has been a place to get news, market products, advertise, be a part of a fan base, educate, and political purposes.

Social media is constantly surrounding us and we must be media literate and understand that social media will keep advancing in time and we must learn to adapt.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/voluntary-sector-network/2013/jun/28/whats-point-social-media-charities

http://host.madison.com/daily-cardinal/opinion/growing-social-media-influence-damaging-our-generation/article_f788cfd6-7f02-11e2-ad72-0019bb2963f4.html 

https://www.facebook.com/facebook/info

https://twitter.com/about

http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/social-networking-websites

 

The Effects of Boulder Being a Healthy, Eco-Friendly City

By: Caylin La Published: July 12, 2013 BOULDER- The community in Boulder, Colorado adds a happy-go-lucky vibe to the city. Residents from Boulder are always active. Whether it is biking, running, playing on Farrand Field, or even walking to class, … Continue reading →

Citizens From America Speak Up and Fight For What They Believe In – The Immigration Reform

By: Andrea Minjarez July 11, 2013

BOULDER – The Senate has been debating about passing the immigration reform and bill, but the government and citizens put their voices out in social media and in their community to push this law to pass and help the American economy.

The Senate had thought about passing the immigration reform. CNN mentions that the bill would need to have at least 60 votes to pass. The idea for this is to double the security on the border of Mexico, so adding at least 20,000 more border agents, add 700 miles of fencing along the border, and having a stronger verification standards for visas. The reform also states that there will be about $3.2 billion in technology similar to what the U.S. Force uses in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Another part of the bill is that the landmark immigration legislation has brought out is the immigration bill of bringing millions of immigrants to the American Workforce. Huffington Post state that the Landmark Immigration Legislation is talking to Senate about this idea. They also state that the Legislation believes that by doing this America’s economy will become stronger.

The way that the immigrants would become legal is by either giving them permanent green card or by making them citizens on the spot. With this law, it would also bring millions and millions of more people into the population. The idea is to not take American’s jobs away, but if to add more jobs and to help America’s economy become more stable and stronger.

Previous U.S. President George W. Bush has had his own opinion input of this new immigration reform. He tells Fox News that legislation will pass the immigration reform even though he failed to do so in his term. He says that it is the perfect time because it will “fix a system that is broken”. He says that he understand why this had been such a major problem. He says that there are “a lot of moving parts and can be ugly”.

On the social media, many bloggers are writing about what other important people, like President Obama, say about the immigration reform. On the Rare’s blog, a blogger stated that Obama is pushing the immigration reform because he too believes that it will help America. He also states that the GOP needs to listen to the Latino’s voice because many of the immigrants in America are Latino’s and the Senate is not listening to them.

Other citizens used different social media too to express themselves towards this idea. Twitter, for example, also has Americas voice in it too. Barack Obama tweeted himself, “The time is now for the House to take up immigration reform”. Other citizens express their feelings in a more critical way. For example, a tweeter named Dwaynee Cobb said, “WHAT – Republicans holding up immigration reform again¬ – “. This shows how the community is getting frustrated by the way that the Senate keeps denying the immigration reform.

Dhalia Gomez, a local American citizen, shares her story of how she struggles with her parents being illegal and how the immigration reform would help out her parents a lot. She was asked a few questions, including what she personally thought about the immigration reform, how the immigration reform will improve the American society, and how would it help her community and herself.

When she was asked about what she thought about the immigration reform she stated that it was a positive solution to the community. She would talk about how many illegal immigrants have been living here for such a long time and have been doing so much for the community, so with the immigration reform it would be a way of paying them back for everything they have done. She also talked about how the immigrants will help America’s economy because more people will be paying taxes, which will then mean more money for the government. She also talked about how it would affect her and her community.

“My status at home would become better because my parents have ben here for more than twenty years” she says. She also talks about how hard it is for her mother because with no social security number, she can’t find a job anywhere. The immigration reform would not only improve her life at home though, it would also help her community the same way the reform would help her mother; “the people in my community would then have better jobs and wouldn’t have to be hiding like they do now.”

Another citizen from the community, but wanted to remain anonymous, also told their story of how the immigration reform affects their lives. They were asked how they felt about the immigration reform. They said that they believed the bill will be a good thing because it will help many families in the community that they live in and the bill will help them help their families. They were also asked if they believed that the bill would help the American economy. They stated that the bill would help the economy because it would provide more money and more jobs for the economy and the government as well.

They were also asked how they believed that the community would be affected by the bill. They responded that in their community, they knew that many immigrants lived there and the immigrants had to hide. They said that they feel that if the immigration reform passed, their community would improve by so much. It would improve by wealthiness and stability. They were also asked how it would affect them personally.

They mentioned that both of their parents were illegal and that it is very hard for them because their parents have to hide and it gets very hard for them to get a job. They also mentioned that they have to struggle because they had to get a job themselves and help their parents support the family.

Many citizens prefer for the bill to pass and they hope for the bill to pass. According to citizens and other important people like the ex president and the current president, this is the perfect time to pass the bill and take action.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/24/politics/senate-immigration-reform

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/senate-immigration-bill_n_3563002.html?utm_hp_ref=immigration-reform

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/07/bush-says-immigration-reform-complex-optimistic-congress-can-fix-broken-system/

Boston bomb suspect pleads not guilty

This story caught my eye because I have been following the Boson bombing because it is a breaking news story. This article showed a bit of bias on the the suspect of the bombings, but the facts in the story were really helpful. The author provided a lot of background informaion for someone who had not been following the story. Although the ending of this article was a bit odd, it didnt really make me want to continue following it. The leading line in the article was really catchy and made me want to continue reading. This article seems impotant to me because deaths are always iportant and interesting to people, as said in the article people dont want to wach this case on t.v. they want to watch it in the courtroom. It also shows a bit of racial discrimination with the suspect being another race, the people go to extremes when they are angry.

Petition to Change National Anthem

Petition to Change National Anthem

This article is about how someone started a petition online to change our national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner”, to “Party in the USA”, by Miley Cyrus. The petition had only about 500 signatures and their goal is 100,000. I think our national anthem is a much respected one and that it will be very hard to get it changed at all. This is newsworthy because it affects a symbol of the country. Our national anthem stands for much more than just notes and words, it stands for all we believe in and all that we are. It is something that many people would refer to something special and sacred. I feel many Americans are against this petition because they would not want the song of an artist that would not be a good representation of this country. The people would never allow the national anthem of the United States to be changed. It is important to everyone and it will be that way for a many more years to come. 

Yasiin Bey, AKA Mos Def, Force-Fed To Protest Guantanamo Procedure During Ramadan

Yasiin Bey, AKA Mos Def, Force-Fed To Protest Guantanamo Procedure During Ramadan

This article is interesting to me because not only is there a eye capturing article, but there’s a video that compliments the story. The thing that caught my attention was the video. I watched the video at first, and it was very graphic but it brings attention and awareness to the fact that at the Guantanamo Bay Prison, the participants who are under a hunger strike are being force fed by a certain procedure. Yasiin Bey, former rapper known as Mos Def, decided to volunteer himself to undergo the procedure to spread the word to protest the force feedings. Bey could only stand a few minutes of the force feedings, while in comparison, prisoners suffer 2 hours of that pain twice a day. The interesting thing about this is that the forced feedings aren’t even real food. It’s a liquid with nutritional supplement that’s shot down their nose into their stomachs. That’s why it hurts so bad because it burns your nose and spreads through your face and brain. In addition, prisoners are kept on watch for 45 minutes just so they don’t vomit. The big twist in this story is that, “While lawyers for four of the detainees on hunger strike had sought to halt the feedings during Ramadan, their petition was denied by the U.S. Justice Department officials last week, according to CNN. Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col Todd Breasseale told CNN that military officials will force-feed prisoners at night in an attempt to accommodate Ramadan’s daylight-hours fasting requirements, but added that the change ‘is an accommodation, not a right.'” This is a moving story because someone with high social status is using his fame for a greater cause. He’s raising awareness for the forced feedings. It pretty much means that if you are a celebrity and you wanna know how you can use your status to make a statement, here is a lesson. The unnecessary stuff that goes on in places in the world is crazy and the fact that this man did what he just did is a testimony of his character. It makes me feel like I have more respect for him even more than I did before. It shows that it’s a messed up way to be fed against your will especially for those practicing Ramadan or anything similar to or even just striking because of how they are treated. This story is very compelling and moving and it makes everyone gain respect for this man for raising awareness of a situation that everyone should be consuming.

Pilot’s First Landing In San Francisco For A Boeing 777

This story really interested me since the day I first read it. The reason is because as I was reading the article, it mentioned how the death of the two girls that deceased, will take about two weeks to figure out what happened. This story also interested me because in the article that I read, it mentioned how the pilot had certain amount of hours flying a 777, and because of that it could be a possible reason for the crash. This story reminded me of another story that had happened last year in December with a famous Latin female singer. In the article, Fox News mentions that Hersman told Fox News that because of the pilot’s hours they had, it could be possibly be seen as “a role in the crash landing”. Fox News also mentioned how the death of the two girls might take up to two weeks to figure out what exactly happened. NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) are doing the investigation of what happened to the plane and are looking at all of the evidence. Most of the passengers were able to leave home the following day, while others, had to get medical help for injuries.

“Get used to Women or ‘Get Out'”

“Get used to Women or ‘Get Out'”

As soon as I read the title of this story I was shocked. This story was about a lieutenant that stood up for women and any other individual that was humiliated. I thought I would share this article because it was very interesting how Lt. Gen. David Morrison defended women in front of all his men. It is actually something very rare to hear that because usually men like him, that have a high position in the military, degrade women. Usually men that are in the military feel they are so powerful that they think they can treat people, especially women, like trash. This story is newsworthy because people want to know what kind of men are leading their country’s military troops and what kind of men are protecting them. People, mostly women, want to hear that the men working to protect them are not sexist towards women; they want to know they will be just as protected as anyone else. Also, the news is mostly bad things that happen in the world and people not only want to read and hear about all the bad things, but they also want to hear the good things that are done around them.

Supreme Court Says No

Courtesy: The Atlantic Wire

By: Andrea Minjarez, Alondra Palomino, Viridiana Valdez, & Caylin La

Published: June 27, 2013

BOULDER – Supreme Court disagrees with Section 4 of the Voting Rights Acts, therefore Obama suggests revisions.

The Supreme Court held a ruling on Tuesday in which they presented the changes to Section 4 and 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The changes of Section 5 consisted of allowing certain states to take charge in making their own changes to election laws rather than getting them approved by federal court. The Supreme Court not only was in disagreement with Section 5, but also wants to eliminate Section 4.

Originally, Section 5 stated that any changes made to voting laws were to be submitted to the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division for preapproval and Section 4 stated that the states were under Section 5. As New York Times claimed, The Supreme Court did not approve of the changes to Section 4 because they debated whether the states with a history of discrimination were still facing barriers to vote.

Also CBS News claimed that striking down Section 4 would weaken a tool that federal government used to block discrimination laws for 5 decades. Huffington Post reported Obama was “deeply disappointed” and U.S.A Today reported: “Obama said, ‘Today’s decision invalidating one of its core provisions upsets decades of well-established practices that help make sure voting is fair, especially in places where voting discrimination has been historically prevalent.’”

Obama’s disappointment led him to urge Congress to create a new formula, according to Fox News.

The states that are applied to these sections are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. Other counties like California, Florida and New York are also applied to these sections.

Now that Section 4 is being struck down, The Supreme Court is being questioned on what is going to happen to the states and counties that are being affected for this law.

 

 

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/us/supreme-court-ruling.html?_r=2&

http://m.cbsnews.com/fullstory.rbml?catid=57590890&feed_id=null&videofeed=null

http://m.usatoday.com/article/news/2116491

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3429810

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/25/supreme-court-strikes-down-key-part-voting-rights-act/